More Anxiety Over Hillary's Thighs

We truly are a strange species if, as Kathleen Kelleher states, "The first lady's thighs put people in a dither. . . ." ("Living Up to Thigh Standards," the Strangest Species, Jan. 14)

Those candid (or not) pictures taken of the first couple on the beach in the Virgin Islands put me in a grateful mode. At least Hillary Clinton doesn't subscribe to the pervasive, nonsensical theory that what really makes a happy, successful person in our society is having thin thighs.

The women I heard commenting negatively would gladly give their bikini bottoms to be in Hillary's shoes. She is good-looking, articulate, poised and very bright and holds a high public position.

It is to be fervently hoped that she will start a new trend in our country in which women can accept themselves as they are. Just think--the Thigh Brigade could use all that extra time discussing such things as how to house and feed homeless, hungry people in Los Angeles, and maybe even come up with a solution.

DOROTHY WEIL

Los Angeles

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According to your article, which cited everyone from radio callers to sociologists to Zsa Zsa Gabor, women are more concerned with their appearance than are men because they have to be. "For women, appearance is still the currency in a meat market," according to a psychologist quoted. Because of this, women will do whatever it takes to hide their physical flaws.

Enter poor, unsophisticated Hillary Clinton. Instead of staying home to suck in her gut and cover her thighs, she naively ventured out into the world and became a successful attorney, a wonderful mother and first lady of our country.

BETSY BORNS

Beverly Hills

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My question is not whether Hillary Clinton's bathing suit shot was a photo op, but why women are wincing rather than applauding. As a thirtysomething who suffers from the same self-loathing malady as a bevy of my fellow females, I found great comfort in Hillary's selfless exhibition. Did America really think she was Kate Moss? Who looks like Kate Moss?

On Mrs. Clinton's behalf, I witnessed no insufferable cellulite rippling in the wind--just the solid framework of a busy woman who appears to exercise regularly.